November 8th, the day everyone was looking forward to this school year. Battle of the Classes (BOTC). BOTC is an event that Mepham hosts at Brookside junior high school where the grades and the faculty battle against each other to see who is the better grade. The week of BOTC, there are events such as Penny Wars and the T-shirt Sales that each grade competes to get up to 40 points towards their score during BOTC. The events ended with the seniors being in first.

Building Homes for Heroes is one of the main causes for Battle of the Classes, as it was a good way for the school to raise money for soldiers who serve our country. Mr. Patten and Ms. Dennis are the organizers of the Building Homes for Heroes project. The T-shirt Sales and Penny Wars help Mepham give Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan Shannon and his family a mortgage-free home. He served our country with honor before returning home injured. All the money raised in each event goes towards paying for the navy officer’s home. This is something important that the school fundraises for, and this year we raised over $18,000.

Although this event is to raise money for veterans, it is still an event everyone, even the faculty, look forward to. It is a lot of fun and each class always has so much spirit and energy, it is hard to not have a good time. Mr. Patten, one of the organizers, told me when I asked him what his favorite part of the night was, “How could you only say one thing? Everyone coming together is something amazing and nothing is better than that.” During BOTC, every grade comes together and battles head to head during several games against all the other grades which is always super exciting. Mr. Gomez seems to think that the dances are the best part,“The dances [are the best part] because of the creative routines that each of the classes develop.” This year, during the freshmen’s dance, the music stopped working, but they still kept going which showed determination and the spirit to finish it while every other class clapped along for them.

According to junior Alexa Ferrara, “What I enjoyed most was how everybody came together. How we were all rooting for everybody no matter what. One moment that stood out to me was when the freshmen’s music went out and even though it was a competition we were all still rooting for them. So my favorite part was seeing everybody come together in the end!” Even though it was a competition, each grade came together to help the freshmen out which was truly amazing to see.

There are so many games such as the Pirate Relay, the volleyball game and Chicken Run, but what junior Jillian Mayer enjoyed most was, “Probably the volleyball game and tug of war.” The senior class won the majority of the games, which is common, but each grade had so much fun even though they did not win. All the spirit that goes into BOTC is what truly makes it amazing; even the decorations are super exciting.

According to Melanie Senra, a junior and a crew member of the BM Broadcasting, “The decoration in the hallways and the walls at Brookside are awesome and it goes really well with the themes. I also love the spirit at the event, I like how each class gets a different shirt color. Everyone is so excited about it!”

Overall, the school spirit is something that makes this event enjoyable for everyone. Ms. Dennis thinks that “The best thing is the enthusiasm that every class brings and it’s probably the best example of school spirit that surpasses every other school. It is a great way for us to all come together!”

The night ended with the senior class winning with 510 points, shortly followed by the juniors, then the sophomores, and lastly the freshmen. Overall, Battle of the Classes is a great event and full of school spirit, memories and great times all together. Hopefully, unless you are a senior, you will be able to experience it all next year!